


It Started Out With a Kiss

by heyarnoldfangirl15



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - New Girl Fusion, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Drama, Dramedy, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Happy Ending, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, POV First Person, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Romcom with drama elements, Song: Mr. Brightside (The Killers), Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 14:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30056973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyarnoldfangirl15/pseuds/heyarnoldfangirl15
Summary: [Alternate Universe where Helga never met the gang.]Helga Pataki hasn’t had the best past. Her parents got divorced and on top of that, she also got expelled from school. At her new school, PS 118, her goal is a fresh start. On her first day, she gets invited to a party where she is dared to kiss the golden boy, Arnold during Truth or Dare. She starts falling for him and he inspires her to move foward, but is her past really done with her?
Relationships: Harold Berman/Patricia "Big Patty" Smith, Helga Pataki/Arnold Shortman, Lila Sawyer/OC, Olga Pataki/Mai Hyunh, Phoebe Heyerdahl/Gerald Johanssen
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate universe where Helga never met any of the characters other than her family until she was 16. Also, she is close with Olga and their age gap is only one year.

A new environment can go lots of different ways for different people.

Either a fresh new start or a recipe for disaster.

But it wasn't really that simple for me.

Let's start from the beginning... Because that's where a practical person would start... right?

My name is Helga Pataki.

My past has been kind of difficult.

I'm pretty nice if I do say so myself, but if you mess with me, don't expect to go down without a fight.

I used to live in Anaheim, California. I was expelled from my old school there.

I know, you're probably judging me and thinking I am a bad kid. But hear me out.

My older sister Olga, was being severely bullied.

From what I know, she was being bullied fot pretty dumb reasons.

She was bullied for being a shy intorvert who cared about schoolwork a lot. She was labeled as a "nerd". Which I found pretty dumb.

I couldn't witness Olga getting bullied anymore, so I had to kick the bully's ass.

Because you do not mess with my family and friends. You just don't.

I got into a fight with the bully, and ended up breaking her arm.

I was expelled for fighting.

So now I'm moving to Hillwood. For a fresh start.

It's not only me who needs a fresh start. Olga needs one too.

And so does my mom. She has a problem with drinking. And she is getting help here.

And what about my dad?

Well, he and my mom got divorced when I was in eigth grade. He's not really in my life anymore.

He is still in Anaheim. Even if he wanted to come with us (which he didn't) he couldn't. He's too busy with his oh so PRECIOUS beeper emporium there.

Even though nobody even uses those pathetic excuses for electronics anymore.

So how he still has that place running is beyond me.

I look out the airplane window as I finish eating my pretzels and Biscoff cookies. I could see the wavy clouds underneath me, and it was actually really cool.

I ate my last pretzel and then pulled out my pink diary and black pen from my pink jansport backpack.

Diary writing and poetry has always been something I love. I can release all of my emotions without judgement by writing in diaries. I've been keeping diaries since I was in first grade, and I am currently on my twentieth diary.

Dear Diary,

I'm on the airplane right now, on my way to Hillwood. I don't know how to feel about this. It's going to be hard to adapt to this new environment, but I'm just glad to get away from the stupid bullies who messed with my sister.

I wonder what this new town and school will have in store for me.

"Please put up your tray tables and keep your seatbelts on." The pilot announced on the loudspeaker. That meant that the plane was going to land soon.

About ten minutes later, the plane was finally landing as my ears started to feel plugged.

People were immediately standing up trying to be the first one to get off of the plane. And the people who weren't competing to get off were clapping. Like, chill out guys. We all wanna get off the plane, and we all will get off the plane.

Five minutes later, I got off the plane with Miriam and Olga. I was feeling tired after sitting in the same spot for hours.

And... we arrived at our brand new house shortly after that. It was a really nice two story, orange and blue triplex.

Goodbye Ahahiem, and hello Hillwood.

I rush to my new room and just flop on my bed. I didn't travel very much, so I wasn't used to being tired like this.

I wrote some more poems in my diary and then changed into my pajamas.

After I wrote and changed into my pajamas, I picked up this book called "Paper Towns" and started reading it for two hours because it's really interesting and I love to read.

I really want to be a writer one day.

It was late at night now, and I needed to sleep because tomorrow was my first day at PS 118 high school.

The next day...

I wake up bright and early at 6:00, well rested with the sun shining and birds chirping-

No. Screw that. People in real life don't wake up like that.

I actually woke up to the loud sound of my mom and sister waking me up, and me feeling tired and like a zombie with messy and ratty hair.

"Baby sister! It's time for our first day at PS 118 high!" Olga exclaimed.

"You don't wanna be late, honey." My mom said.

"Just five more minutes..." I said.

"You say that every morning, baby sis. We have to eat breakfast and get ready for school!" Olga said.

"Fine..." I said as I sat up.

Miriam and Olga made their way out of my room so I could get dressed.

I put on a pink tank top, some mid-tone blue jeans, and black ankle boots.

I also brushed my hair out and put on a pink bow on the top of my head.

I went downstairs and ate a bagel with cream cheese, and I did everything that people normally do to get ready for school.

"You look very nice, Helga." Olga said.

"You don't look so bad yourself." I said.

"Are you excited?" Olga asked.

"I have mixed feelings." I said.

"Me too. But I'm glad to be away from those people."

"You can say that again."

Olga and I took the bus to school. Normally, our dad would drive us, but he obviously isn't here. And our mom can't drive us because she is a recovering alcoholic and her driver's license is suspended.

So taking the bus was our only option.

I sat in my seat thinking about all the possibilities. This was a whole new environment, what did it have in store for me?

Will I fit in here?

We finally arrived at school after about half an hour. I nervously walked into the school that I had never seen in my life before.

Here I was at PS 118 High.

I looked at my schedule while walking in the halls. My first class was English. I loved English in general. Reading and writing were some of my passions.

As I looked at my schedule, I felt myself bump into someone and I fell down. Maybe looking at a paper while walking wasn't the best idea.

"Oh, sorry." I said kind of awkwardly.

"It's okay." I heard as I saw a hand in front of me.

I grabbed on the hand and stood up.

I looked up... and holy crap.

Standing in front of me was the most gorgeous boy I had ever laid eyes on.

He had golden blonde hair that perfectly suited his forest green eyes, and he had a really cute smile.

"Uh, I like your bow. Are you new here?" He asked.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"I've just never seen you here before." He said.

"Are you saying you recognize the face of every single person in this school?"

"This school isn't exactly a mansion."

"Well yes, I am new. This is my first day here."

"Welcome to PS 118, uh... new girl."

"My name is Helga."

"Welcome to PS 118, Helga. I'm Arnold."

Suddenly, this other girl walked up to Arnold.

She was really pretty, no homo, just saying. She had reddish brown hair that was in braids and she had small green bows in each one. She had blue eyes and was wearing a green sweater and a short black skirt.

"Ready to go to class Arnold?" She said.

"In a minute, Lila." Arnold said.

"Okay, see you there." The girl said.

I wonder who that girl was. Was she his girlfriend? Just his friend?

Why do I even care? I shouldn't be wondering about this.

"I'll see you around, Helga." Arnold said.

"See you." I said.

I decided to head to my first period class, English.

And what do you know, Arnold and Lila were in that class too. Such a small world.

I found an empty seat in the classroom and sat in it as I set down my binder.

"Hi." The girl next to me said.

"Hey." I said.

"Are you new here?" She asked.

She was the second person today to ask that. I guess it's just recognizable.

"Yeah, how do you know?" I asked.

"It's kinda obvious when there's a new student at PS 118." The girl told me.

"Okay then."

"I'm Phoebe."

"Helga."

"Okay class, settle down." The teacher announced.

"I'm Mr Simmons. And the only reason I say that is because I see we have a new student.

How about you introduce yourself?"

And this is the part where I have to introduce myself to the class just cause I'm new. I've never liked that thing where we have to tell the class a fact about ourselves. But I'll do it anyway.

I stood up. "I'm Helga." I said.

"What's a fact about you?" Mr Simmons asked.

"Uhhh I like to read and write I guess." I said.

"That's so great and special! This is English class, after all. Thanks, Helga." Mr Simmons said.

This teacher seemed awfully sappy. Not that there's really anything wrong with it. I just notice a lot about people. Maybe I'm judgemental.

"Okay class, it's time for bell work. For bell work, I want you to write a poem about something that caught your eye or stood out to you this morning." Mr Simmons said.

I didn't understand why the teacher wanted us to write about this. It's eight in the morning for crying out loud, what could possibly stand out to us in so little time?

Well, luckily something did catch my eye/stand out to me this morning.

So I guess I had no choice but to write about it. I mean him.

I got paranoid that Mr. Simmons would read the poems to the class, so I signed the paper as anonymous.

A new environment,

How will it go?

A disaster or a fresh start?

Only about an hour has passed,

So it's hard to tell for sure,

But I know one person has stood out to me,

I stumbled across him because of my clumsiness,

He has nice golden blonde hair,

Rare luminous forest eyes,

And an angelic smirk.

Not only that,

He seems like a nice guy.

I wonder if I'll see him again?

I can't believe I wrote this. And I just realized something. If Mr Simmons reads this, it'll be obvious that I wrote it, even if he doesn't say I wrote it.

Oh well. I already wrote the poem. And bell work is over now.

"Okay class, turn in your poems please." Mr Simmons said.

I went over to the turn in bin and I handed in my poem.

"I will decide which three poems are my favorite, and I will read them tomorrow." Mr Simmons announced.

Well, it looks like my paranoia was right. He was gonna read the poems to the class.

About half an hour later, the bell rang for second period.

"What class do you have next, Helga?" Phoebe asked.

I took a look at my schedule. "It's math." I said.

"That's my next class too." Phoebe said.

"That's cool." I said.

"Also, I saw that you were talking to Arnold. Not even half an hour spent at this school, you were talking to Arnold." Phoebe said.

"Yeah. What's the big deal?"

"He's the golden boy. The most popular guy here. And you were already talking to him on your first 30 minutes!"

"I don't like labels. Just because he has a good label doesn't mean he's some kind of greek god."

"Well that's kinda deep. What made you think that?"

"It's a long story. All I will say is that people are usually so much more than what they are labeled."

"That's very true actually. I just thought it was surprising that you were talking to him.

How do you feel about him?"

"To be honest, he's really cute and he seems nice."

The two minute bell rang for hour math class.

"We need to go to class." I said.

"Let's go." Phoebe said.

Phoebe and I really clicked. We became friends almost instantly. She seemed really sweet and supportive and I really liked talking to her. I'm glad I had someone.

Third period rolled around, and I was carrying my textbooks around the halls.

It seemed like I was being a klutz today. And I dropped one of my books.

"I'll help you with that." I heard from behind me.

And... it was Arnold again.

"You stalking me football head?" I asked.

"Football head?" He asked, confused.

"Your head kind of looks like a football." I said.

"Watch it, there, new girl.

Let me get your book for you." Arnold said as he got my book from the floor and handed it to me.

We had third period, then fourth period, and now it was time for lunch.

I sat with Phoebe at one of the tables in the cafeteria. And then this one girl just stood on one of the tables. She had black hair that was in bangs, and she was wearing an overly fancy red dress with sparkles. She also had tall black heels and a designer handbag. I don't know how she was standing on the table with those really tall heels.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!" She yelled.

I guess she could just make every single person in the lunchroom stop talking just so they could listen to her.

"That's Rhonda, the queen bee. She's popular and rich." Phoebe whispered to me.

More labels. Great.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of labels because of what happened to Olga.

"I'm having a party after school! All of you are invited!" Rhonda announced.

She's having a party and inviting everyone? It seems like that would be a really big party.

"Do you think you want to go?" Phoebe said.

"Maybe. It would a good experience as the new girl I guess." I said.

"I'm not the biggest fan of parties, but I'll go if you go." Phoebe said.

"I'll think about it.

Also, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"What's the deal with Arnold and Lila?"

"Does someone have a crush on Arnold?"

"No. I barely know him. I'm just curious."

"Well, Lila is his girlfriend."

My suspicions were right. Arnold and Lila were dating. But why should I care?

"Don't tell anyone I told you this, but their relationship is getting rocky though." Phoebe said.

"Thanks for telling me stuff about the school and the people here." I said.

"My pleasure." Said Phoebe.

I decided that I was gonna go to Rhonda's party after school. I wanted to see what would happen, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get myself out there.


	2. After School

After lunch, I went through three more periods of the school day. I won't explain what happened, because for the most part, it was uneventful. Just normal lessons.

After my seventh and final period of the day, I went to talk to Phoebe before my bus came.  
Olga was also waiting on the bus with me.

"Oh, this is my sister, Olga." I said.

"Hi, Olga. I'm Phoebe." Phoebe said.

"I'm so glad you made a new friend, baby sister!" Olga said.

Suddenly, Rhonda, Lila, and some other girl walked up to us.  
"Remember! Party at my house tonight!"  
Rhonda said and then walked away.

"Rhonda, Lila, and Nadine are the most popular girls in this school. Which I'm sure you could figure out." Phoebe said.

"A typical popular girl and her minions. I've seen that kind of trio at my old school." I said.

"Uh oh. It's Harold." Phoebe said.

"Oh brother, who are you introducing to me now? What's his label?" I said.

"He's a player. He's also a popular guy. He's been known to hook up with girls a lot, mainly Rhonda. Be careful." Phoebe explained.

Like I said before, people are usually more than their labels. So Harold is probably more than a player.  
But still, I'm not going to associate with him.  
I don't want to be treated like that, and I won't. And I'm really not interested.

Harold then walked up to us.  
"You're new here? You're pretty and sexy here too." He said.

"Not interested." I said.

"I'm just being friendly, what do you mean?" Harold said.

"I guess if you call that just being friendly. Me, Helga G Pataki isn't easy, unlike some other people you might know."

"Oh, is this nerd Phoebe telling you about our reputations?  
Why are you hanging out with this nerd?"

I was pissed when Harold said that. Him trying to hit on me was annoying, but him asking me why I was hanging out with a "nerd like Phoebe" really made me mad.  
It reminded me of how Olga was treated for being nerdy.

"Okay, that's it Harold! You are not going to insult my friends or question why I'm friends with them ever again! Next time you do, you're gonna have to answer to old betsy and the five avengers!" I shouted.

"Old who and the five what?" Harold said and then laughed.

"My fists. That's their names." I said.

"You fucking named your fists? You're a freak. I bet you're also a freak in-"

"Don't even think about finishing that goddamn sentence. Bye. My friend, my sister, and I have to go to the bus."

I immediately walked off with Phoebe and Olga.  
I got on the bus after my long but interesting first day at PS 118.

"Harold is so annoying and rude!" I said.

"You can say that again. I have no idea why people like him so much." Phoebe said.

"The mean ones are always popular. That's just how it is." I said.

"It's honestly true. I don't know why it's that way." Phoebe said.

"Harold hit on you too?" Arnold said. He happened to be in the seat in front of us.

"Yeah, he's annoying. He also ridiculed me for being friends with Phoebe. How does that dude pick up chicks?" I said.

"I'm glad you don't fall for his tricks. You're better than that." Arnold said.

"So, you going to the party?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's kinda bound to happen because I'm dating Lila and she's Rhonda's best friend." Arnold said.

"I think I'll go. It's a good opportunity to get myself out there. Being the new girl and all."

"I'll see you there."

"See you too."

Ten minutes later, the bus stopped at my house.

"Bye Phoebe." I said.

"Bye Helga!" Phoebe said.

My mom had left for two weeks because she was going to be at the rehabilitation center. I really hoped that it would help with her alcohol addiction. It would make the Pataki family much more peaceful.  
Because of this, my mom hired a nanny and she was right there when Olga and I got home.

"Hello. I am Inga, your new nanny." She said. She had a swiss accent.

"Hi, Inga!" Olga said.

"Hello." I said.

"Helga, your shoulders are showing, and Olga, your jeans are ripped. That's not a proper look for school." Inga said.

Was this girl serious? Why did she care so much about what we were wearing?  
She should see the stuff other girls at our schools wear. 

"Ripped jeans are a trend. And nobody cares about my shoulders." I said.

"Teens are strange." Inga said.

Well that was weird that the first thing she said to us besides "Hi, I'm Inga" was that our clothes weren't "proper."

I went up to my room to find an outfit for the party. I went with this light pink chiffon dress with short sleeves, that went a tiny bit above my knees.  
I left it on my bed until it was time to get ready.

A few hours after some unimportant and uneventful stuff happens for like 2 hours...

"Can I go to a party?" I asked.

"No. I don't want you going to a party." Inga said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You're in high school. And high school parties have a lot of alcohol. And since you're a teen with hormones-"

"Hold up! Slow down. I'm not going to drink. I don't want to. Because you know why you're my nanny in the first place.  
And for heaven's sake, I just met the people attending the party."

Inga sighed. "I'll think about it. You do seem like a good girl, Helga."

"Okay... thank you."

Even though I didn't get an official answer, I still went up to my room and put on my dress with some kinda short black high heels. I then headed downstairs.

"Since you already got dressed and I trust you, you can go to the party. But you have to be home by nine." Inga said.

"Alright. Thanks." I said.

"You look pretty, baby sister!" Olga said.

"Thanks." I said.

"Have fun."

"Helga G Pataki always has fun."

I got my car and proceeded to go to Rhonda's house...


	3. Truth or Dare

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the address she gave me.  
And wow. This house was huge. It was like a mansion. Probably the biggest house I have seen.  
I went on her stoop, and I rang the doorbell.

"Hi, Helga! Glad you showed up. Cute dress." Rhonda said.

"Thanks." I said.

I went inside, and Rhonda's house looked even bigger on the inside. There was loud EDM music playing with people dancing. There was snack tables and of course, as Inga said, there was alcohol on those same tables. Because this is a teen party. How Rhonda got all of this alcohol as a sixteen year old girl is beyond me. I didn't understand what people saw in this stuff.

Obviously, I didn't want to drink the alcohol because of what happened to my mom. She drank alcohol everyday like an addiction until her body couldn't handle it anymore. She overdosed, and now she is paying the price in rehab.

I don't want to turn out like that, and I feel like it would be disrespectful to her situation to drink alcohol. And besides, I'm not even old enough for heaven's sake.  
Helga G Pataki can have a good time sober!

"Hi Helga!" I heard from behind me.  
It was Phoebe.  
"You came too!" I said.

"Yeah. I usually don't do activities like this, but I decided, why not? And you said you were going."

"I'm glad you came."

Phoebe and I looked around and danced for a while. I then saw Arnold standing by the punch bowl. He looked handsome and- oh god, stop thinking about him like this Helga. He has a girlfriend.

"Who wants to play truth or dare?" Rhonda announced.

"Ohhh! I do!" This one black haired guy with a bowl cut and red glasses screamed.

"Calm down Curly." Rhonda said.

A good portion of us got into a circle to play the game. I decided to play this game, cause you know, why not.

"Uh, Curly. Truth or dare?" Harold said.

"DARE!" He said.

"That's Curly. He's a bit... crazy to say the least." Phoebe whispered to me.

"Okay. I dare you to leave Rhonda the hell alone!" Harold said.

"That's the worst dare ever. Also, we both know you don't really care about Rhonda." Curly said.

"Be quiet, both of you. Helga, truth or dare?" Rhonda said.

"Ummm... dare." I said.

"I dare you to kiss Arnold." Rhonda said.

I couldn't believed what Rhonda said in that very moment.  
Was I dreaming?  
This is my first day at PS 118, and I've  
been dared to kiss one of the most popular guys there?  
I didn't think anything crazy would happen at school, especially not on the first day. I guess I was wrong.  
But Arnold already had a girlfriend. And his girlfriend happens to be one of Rhonda's best friends. Why did Rhonda dare me to kiss Arnold?

"But he has a girlfriend!" I said.

"Uh- I have a girlfriend Rhonda." Arnold said.

"It's okay. A dare is a dare and I don't mind." Lila said.

"If you say so, Lila." Arnold said.

I realized that I had to do the dare that I was given. So I walked over to Arnold, who was standing across from me in the group of people.  
I was about to have my first kiss. I didn't imagine my first kiss being like this, but then again, I didn't think about my first kiss that much.

I leaned in and kissed Arnold slowly and sweetly as he touched my back and I touched his shoulders.  
Then suddenly, the kiss got less slow and I felt a rush. I didn't recall feeling what I felt before.  
This felt wrong, but it felt right at the same time.  
Arnold broke the kiss after around ten seconds, and I started to blush. I had to process what had just happened. Why was I dared to kiss him and how did I really feel about it?  
We played truth or dare for a little while, and it was almost my curfew.  
I told Phoebe and Rhonda that I had to leave, and I headed out.  
That was an interesting party. I actually had a pretty good time.  
I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. I didn't know what it really meant. I don't know if it was meaningless or not.   
God, talking to him is gonna be so awkward now.


	4. Project Partners?

The next day...  
My second day at PS 118 High. The first day was pretty crazy, I wonder what the second day has in store for me.  
A LOT APPARENTLY.

I arrived at school, and right off the bat, I saw Arnold and Lila in the hallway.  
But they weren't being affectionate. They were arguing in the middle of the hallway.

I hid behind a pillar, or at least tried to. I wanted to know what was going on. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but they didn't look too happy.

"You know what Lila, this isn't going to work out. We've known that for a long time but refused to say anything." I heard Arnold say to Lila.

Were they fighting because Arnold and I kissed last night?  
After witnessing that argument that I wasn't supposed to witness, I went to Mr Simmons' English class.

Arnold was sitting in front of me. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to him. I mean, what are you supposed to say to the guy you kissed last night on a dare? But I still wanted to interact with him.

"Hello class! I'm going to be announcing the pairings for our new English project." Mr Simmons announced.

"I better get someone good!" Rhonda said.

"Harold and Patty, Rhonda and Curly..." Mr  
Simmons started saying.

"Yay!!!" Curly shouted.

"No! Why did I get this creep?" Rhonda shrieked.

"Lila and Nadine, Arnold and Helga..." Mr Simmons listed.

Well, there's an excuse to talk to Arnold without feeling pressured.  
I can't believe I was paired with Arnold for the project. I just started my second day at this school and I keep getting mixed up with Arnold.

After an uneventful English period...  
"Sooo... um... Helga? When do you want to start the project?" Arnold came up to me and said.

"I don't know... today after school I guess." I said.

"Sounds good." Said Arnold.

Luchtime rolls around, and I saw Lila at a table looking sad. I figured that it had to be because of her argument with Arnold. I somehow felt responsible for their breakup. It couldn't have been a coincidence that they broke up the day after Arnold and I kissed. I realized that I had to talk to Arnold about this, because I had to know.  
Why did Rhonda dare me to kiss her best friend's boyfriend? That just seems so off to me.

"I can't believe what happened last night at the party." Phoebe said.

"Me neither. But why did Rhonda even dare me to kiss him? That's what I wanna know." I said.

"I don't know Helga. Some people are just confusing." Phoebe said.

After school, I got on the bus and Arnold sat in front of me again.  
"Where should we do the project, Helga?" Arnold asked.

"I don't know, is your house okay?" I said.

"Sure." Arnold said.

About ten minutes later, the bus arrived at Arnold's house, which appeared to be a boarding house.

"Hi, Grandpa." Arnold said.

"Hello, Shortman." Arnold's grandpa said. "Who's this?"

"This is Helga, my partner for an English project... and also my friend." Arnold said.

Arnold considered me a friend? That's cool. I'm glad to be his friend.

"Make me a sandwich!!" This one guy said.  
"Just go to Subway and leave us alone." Arnold's grandpa said.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Oskar, one of the boarders. He's kind of annoying and lazy." Arnold said.

"Like the author?" I asked.

"Excuse me what?" Arnold said, looking confused.

"Haha, nothing." I said. "Let's go work on our project."

Arnold and I went upstairs to work on our English project for Mr. Simmons. I know it wasn't any of my business, but I had to ask Arnold if his argument and break up with Lila had anything to do with me.

"Um... Arnold?" I said.

"Yeah?" Arnold said.

"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my boundaries, but I couldn't help but see you and Lila arguing. Was it because you and I kissed last night?"

"It wasn't that alone. Lila and I broke up because our relationship wasn't working and it was dying. It was that way before you came here."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't want to talk much about it."

"Okay, we can work more on the project."

Arnold and I worked on the project for about an hour and then I went home.  
For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about him.  
Like I said before, he is the most attractive person I have seen. But he is also really nice and charming and I want to know more about him.  
I mean it's not like I actually LIKE him or anything...

Hours later, bedtime rolled around. Two days of PS 118 completed.

For some reason, I just couldn't sleep. My eyes refused to shut, and I just stared at the pink walls with millions of thoughts running through my mind. I didn't want to admit it, but most of those thoughts were about Arnold.

I did what I always did when I couldn't sleep. I wrote in my diary.

I started writing about how I felt about PS 118 and the new environment, but quickly, my pen filled the whole page with writing about Arnold. I needed to stop thinking about him so much, and I didn't even know why I was thinking about him. I feel less dirty about it because him and Lila broke up. But why am I thinking about him like this? It was only a kiss, a dare. Right?

I tried to go to sleep again. It was late as hell, and I didn't want to walk into school as a zombie tomorrow. Writing in my diary had made me a little tired, but only the slightest bit tired. I shut my eyes, and I just waited a while before I fell asleep.


	5. A Realization

The next day...  
I woke up feeling groggy, and I actually felt tired, unlike last night. Isn't it weird how that works? 

During first period, Arnold and I made some process on our English project. Meanwhile, Rhonda and Curly were arguing about the project. It was really bugging me. My brain felt like it might explode if I heard their loud voices again.

"We need posterboard." Arnold said.

"Well, let's ask Mr. Simmons for some." I suggested.

"Uhhh Mr. Simmons do you have poster board?" Arnold asked.

"It's in the storage room. You can go there." Mr. Simmoms said.

"Okay, thanks." Arnold said.

Arnold and I made our way to the school storage room. I was so glad to get away from Rhonda and Curly screaming.

"I'm glad to get away from Rhonda and Curly screaming at each other. It was driving me crazy." I said.

"Honestly same." Arnold said.

Arnold picked up some poster board and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open.

"The door won't open!" Arnold panicked.

"Let me try." I said.

I tried opening the door, and it wouldn't budge.

"Well shit. We've been locked in." I said.

"I guess we'll have to wait for someone to get us?"

"That could take ages, football head."

"Is football head my nickname now?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Arnold smirked. "Okay, pink bow."

"Are you going to call me pink bow from now on?" I asked.

"If you're gonna call me football head, then yes.  
I like your pink bow, as I said before."

I looked at Arnold's green eyes as he smirked, and let me tell you, it should be a crime to be this attractive.  
I realized that we were avoiding the fact that we kissed at Rhonda's party. I don't think it meant anything to him, but I wanted to clear the air because I didn't want to pretend we didn't kiss.

"Arnold, we're kind of-" I started saying.

Before I could finish my sentence, Arnold started hyperventilating. I didn't know what was going on or what to do. I was confused

"I'm freaking out right now!" Arnold panicked.

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm claustrophobic. I can't handle small spaces like this." Arnold explained.

I didn't know what to do. I wasn't the best when it came to helping people. It was not one of my strengths. But I had to try my best.

"Focus on breathing." I said.

"I-I'll try my best." Arnold said with a hint of worry in his voice.

Arnold started taking some deep breaths, and I still didn't know what I could do to make him feel better.

"Can you hold my hand? As childish as this sounds, holding someone's hand calms me down." Arnold said.

I slowly grabbed Arnold's hand and smiled at him. I mainly held his hand to make him feel better, but it also made ME feel good. I don't know what's up with all the thoughts I've had about him lately.

"It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll be out of here soon." I said.

"I really hope so. You holding my hand is making me feel better." Arnold said.

Shortly after, I saw the door open. It was Phoebe who opened it.

"There you guys are. Mr Simmons wanted me to check on you because you were taking a long time." Phoebe said.

"We got locked here for some reason." I said.

"That's peculiar." Phoebe said.

"Yeah. Let's go back to class." I said.

Arnold, Phoebe, and I went back to class and carried on with the rest of the class period.  
I thought about how I've been having certain thoughts about the certain blonde boy.

I was the kind of girl who did what she had to do. I wasn't a coward. I was willing and bold. So of course I accepted the dare.  
But I began to wonder if the reason I accepted the dare was more than that. Maybe I was attracted to him, or better yet, liked him.  
I don't get crushes very often, and I couldn't tell for sure if I had a crush on him. And I also couldn't tell if I was going to overstep my boundaries.  
But he did take me to a place that no one else could. I thought about him a lot, and he gave me thrill and butterflies. There's something about him.  
Oh god. I think I like him.


	6. A Last Minute Announcement

After English, I walked to math with Phoebe.  
"So, I saw you and Arnold holding hands." Phoebe said and smirked.

"Shhh! Not so loud." I said.

"You totally had a moment though." Phoebe said.

"He was feeling claustrophobic and holding someone's hand makes him feel better."

"What if that was an excuse?"

"I don't think it was, Phoebe."

"Maybe, maybe not. But I think you like him."

"Okay, yes, I like Arnold. But just lowkey."

"That's exciting that you admitted it!"

"Oh my lord, Phoebe, you better not tell ANYBODY about this..."

"Helga likes Ar-" Phoebe started excitingly saying.

"Shut up!" I said as I covered her mouth.

"I wasn't actually going to announce it. I just wanted to mess with you. Keeping the secret!" Phoebe said.

"I was about to have a heart attack, Phoebe, damn." I said.

"You wanna know who I like?" Phoebe asked.

"Sure, why not."

"Gerald. Arnold's best friend."

"PHOEBE LIKES-"

"Helga, stop trying to pull my own trick on me."

I laughed. "I was kidding." I told her.

Phoebe laughed too. "I know."

One week later...  
Arnold and I have got to known each other a bit more through our project. The more I spend time with him, the more I realize I like him. A part of this scared me because I didn't have a good experience with popular people. The people who bullied Olga were popular, and the popular people at my old school were not the best people.

I know that I shouldn't judge people based on their popularity. Arnold may be one of the most popular guys at PS 118, but he is nice, charming, and caring. And he seems like a really good person. I'm glad to see a popular person that I can trust.

Arnold and I still never mentioned the kiss at Rhonda's party. I never had the chance to ask him about it. I know it was just a kiss on a dare, but it's pretty much what caused us to feel closer to each other. I just wanted to know what he thought about it. Probably nothing, but I wanted to know his thoughts.

"Okay class, I want to announce our class trip for this winter break! You aren't required to go, but it would be very special if you all did!" Mr. Simmons announced.

"Ooh I wonder where we're going!" Phoebe said.

"It better be somewhere good! Rich people like me can't be seen at some poor place!" Rhonda said.

"Can you go one minute without bragging about how much money you have?" Gerald said.

"Okay class, settle down. During winter break in two weeks, we are going on a class trip to Anaheim. I will hand out your permission slips." Mr Simmons announced to the class.

Did I hear him correctly?  
ANAHEIM?!

Where I used to live? Where Olga's bullies are?  
Why has fate been messing with me ever since I got here? And would I actually go on the trip? Or would I stay in Hillwood for winter break?

"Helga? Why do you look so surprised?" Phoebe asked.

"That's where I used to live!" I said.

"Well that's bizarre and weird." Phoebe said.

"Tell me about it."

"Do you think you wanna go back?"

"Maybe. If we aren't close to these certain people. And also if..."

I stopped myself before I could say more. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to say what I was planning to say in class.

"And also if what?" Phoebe asked.

I sighed. "If Arnold goes."

Phoebe smirked at me.

"Wipe that look off of your face." I said.

"I ship it." Phoebe whispered.

"Remember, this is a secret right now."

"Remembering!"

After class...  
I started thinking about whether I wanted to go on the class trip or not. For one, it would be another good opportunity to get myself out there. And also spend some more time with Arnold.

But I didn't want to see Olga's bullies. But then again, what were the odds that I would? Anaheim isn't a secluded area like here in Hillwood.

I decided that I would go on the trip, and I'll just say, it was both the best and worst decision of my life.

I was getting my math textbook out of my locker when heard Arnold by his locker, not far away from mine, talking to Gerald. There I was again, eavesdropping on Arnold's conversations when I wasn't supposed to.

"You going on the trip bro?" Gerald asked.

"Yeah, even though it was kind of a last minute announcement. Also, I hope Helga goes." Arnold said.

Arnold wants me to go on the trip?! Oh my god, now I really want to go on the trip.

"You've been staring into your locker for a while now, Helga. But you already have your textbook." Phoebe said.

"Phoebe! Don't scare me like that!" I shrieked as I jumped.

"Whatcha doing?" Phoebe asked.

"I.. I was um... looking for my pencil!"

"You already have your pencil, Helga."

"Damn it."

"It's okay to want to listen to Arnold talk."

"You're too smart Phoebe, and you're not gonna shut up about this, are you?"

Phoebe leaned over to my ear and whispered in it, "Shortaki for life, bitch."

"What the hell does Shortaki mean?" I asked.

"Shortman plus Pataki equals Shortaki." Phoebe said.

"You are really wildin, Phoebe. I don't know why you're so excited about this."

The two minute bell rang very shortly after I said that.  
"Saved by the bell. See you later, Phoebe!" I said.

After school...  
I arrived home after yet another school day at PS 118, along with my permission slip.

"Hello, girls." Inga said.

"Hi, Inga. Can you sign this paper?" I said as I held out my permission slip.

"That depends, Helga. What is it for?" Inga said.

"School trip this winter break." I said.

Inga started reading the permission slip. "In Anaheim? That's out of state! You can't be miles and miles away from this house during break with me or your mom." Inga said.

"But Inga! There will be supervision and everyone else in my class is going." I said.

"You can go ONLY if your older sister goes too." Inga told me.

I didn't think I could actually convince Olga to go with me on the trip. I know she didn't want to go back to that place. But I'm Helga G Pataki, so I always get my way. So I'll find a way to convince Olga.  
I went to Olga's room so I could ask her about the class trip.

"Hi, baby sis." Olga said.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Sure, anything."

"So Inga will only let me go on this school trip if you go too. But the thing is... it's in Anaheim."

"Wait, your class is taking a trip to our hometown?! That's a very weird quirk of fate. But I'm not ready to go back there. I can't go back to that place right now, especially since we just recently moved here."

"Olga, don't let yourself become traumatized to go somewhere just because a few horrible idiots live there."

"I know I shouldn't let it haunt me, but I'm just not ready.  
Also, I have a question. Why do you wanna go on the trip?"

"Ugh... do I really have to tell you too?  
Well, hypothetically speaking... I MIGHT like this boy who is going who wants me there too... but it's hypothetical!"

"Does my baby sister have a crush?"

I sighed. "Don't tell anyone, Olga."

I then suddenly got an idea. An idea that might not work, but I was gonna try it anyway.

"I have an idea. How about you check into a hotel or something, and say you're going on the trip with me?" I suggested.

"Damn it Helga, why do you always come up with these diabolic plans?  
But I guess we could try that. You're lucky that I care enough about you." Olga said.

"Yay. Since you just recently got your driver's license, you can just drive me to the airport, and then leave for the hotel. Inga will never know."

"I can't believe I'm actually gonna go through with this..."


	7. Ice Cream

Night time rolled around and I couldn't sleep once again. I have had trouble sleeping lately because of so much stuff on my mind. I didn't think my new life here would be so eventful. I couldn't stop thinking about Arnold and the trip.

I started to write in my diary again. I reread everything that I wrote since I arrived in Hillwood. I noticed that 99% of the stuff I wrote since I got here was about Arnold. I didn't understand why all of these pages were filled with thoughts about him.  
This diary is probably watching me like, hey, stop writing about Arnold! Write about something else!

After writing some more, I finally managed to get a little tired. It was time to go sleep for school, and I reminded mysef that there was only two more weeks before winter break.

Two weeks later...  
(A/N: no Helga did not sleep for two weeks, it's just a regular time jump. I know that was kind of a weird spot to put it but ehhh)

Today was my last day of school before winter break. Inga had signed my permission slip for the trip, because she thinks Olga is going too. What Inga doesn't know won't hurt her.

Inga is still my nanny because it turned out my mom needed more time in rehab than she thought. My mom is far from perfect, and she did so many things that made me angry, and so did my dad... but I hope that she turns out to be okay.

Arnold and I have spent a lot of time together lately. But I can't figure out how to tell him how I feel. I barely ever get crushes, especially not one that feels this strong. So I don't know how to handle this. Because even though I am a stubborn girl who knows how to stand up for herself... I am secretly scared of rejection.

"You excited for the class trip?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, but I am a bit nervous too. But mostly excited." I said.

"I'm rooting for you and-" Phoebe started to say.

"Ice cream. We're calling him ice cream in public." I said.

"Okay, I'm rooting for you and ice cream." Phoebe said.

"She's rooting for you and ice cream?" I heard behind me.

I loudly gasped and then turned around. Standing behind me was ice cream, I mean Arnold himself.

"Don't scare me like that, football head!  
Also yes. She hopes that I get ice cream soon. Because I love it and I'm craving some!" I said as I blushed.

"You deserve all the ice cream in the world." Arnold said.

BRIIIINNNG!!  
Saved by the bell.

"See you later, football head." I said as Arnold made his way to class.

"You do. I've shipped you guys ever since you first spoke to each other." Phoebe said.

"We need to get to class." I said.

"Heading to class!" Phoebe said.

Today was pretty uneventful for the most part, except for the fact that everyone was going through anticipation about the class trip. It was all I heard about all day.

The next day rolled by, and I was on my way to the Hillwood airport.

I had convinced Inga to let Olga drive me there. After Olga dropped me off, she made her way to a hotel. I just hoped my little plan would work. My diabolic plans don't always work out, so I was hoping this one would.

Our class boarded our four hour long flight, on our way to Anaheim... This trip was the week where lots of secrets were revealed. This class trip was one hell of a ride...

I sat next to Phoebe on the airplane. Her and I had become really close friends since I arrived to Hillwood. She's really kind and supportive. Sure, her over enthusiasm sometimes gives me a headache, but she's still a good friend.

I opened up my backpack and pulled out my pink diary and black pen. I began to write about the possibilities of going back to my hometown. It was a very twisted quirk of fate that our destination happened to be my hometown. It almost feels like I'm in a fanfiction. But that can't be possible, right? I just have too much of an imagination, god...

"What are you writing about, Helga?" Phoebe asked.

"This is a diary. Which means it's a private book." I said.

"I already know what you're writing about anyway." Phoebe said.

"Just go back to watching your K-Dramas!" I said.

"Okay!" Phoebe said with enthusiasm.

Everyone just did their own things for four hours on the plane ride.  
And finally, we had arrived in Anaheim after four pretty long and boring hours. It was time to begin our winter break class trip.


	8. Revealing Secrets

"YAY!! WE'RE HERE!!" Curly shouted as he started loudly clapping.

This guy seemed like he was known for having random, noisy outbursts.

"What's up with this kid?" I asked Phoebe.

"He's a bit... crazy, as I said before. He once painted himself with tiger stripes and freed a tiger out of the zoo." Phoebe said.

"Poor, twisted little freak." I commented.

"I thought you hated labels."

"I do. But I just thought it was funny how Curly went through all that trouble."

"I guess it is pretty... ironic. Also, you never told me why you don't like labels."

"Well, since you've been such a good friend since I got to Hillwood, you've earned it.

So, my sister, Olga used to get bullied. These two certain people wouldn't leave her alone. No matter how much I tried to get them to stop. They would constantly make fun of her, and would spread rumors about her, and sometimes get physical. And why did they do this? Because she was called an introverted nerd!" I explained to Phoebe.

"Oh god... that sounds horrible, Helga. I can understand why you don't like labels now." Phoebe said.

"Yep." I said.

Our class shortly got off of the airplane and headed to the place where we would be staying. Everybody would have a roommate, and my roommate was Phoebe. We had bonded some more as best friends, and our friendship happened naturally and quickly.

The next day...

I had decided to go to the public showers early in the morning. And that's when I saw something that I never expected to see. Crazy things were already happening.

I saw Lila and this strawberry blonde girl from our class... kissing.  
They suddenly stopped kissing as I walked in.

"Sorry, I'll leave right away." I said.

"Wait, Helga!" Lila said.

"What do you want?"

"You can't tell anybody what you saw today, Helga. I'm not ready." 

"I just have a question. Did you date Arnold to hide the fact that you like girls?"

"It's a long story that I don't wanna tell right now. Just don't tell anybody what you saw."

"I won't. I might be stubborn and sassy and whatnot, but I'd never out someone. I wouldn't do something shitty like that."

"Thank you ever so much."

"Bye!" I said as I left.

I was so confused about what I saw. Did Arnold and Lila break up because of this? Or was it really because Arnold and I kissed at Rhonda's party? It might've not been any of my business, but I craved answers.

Three hours later...

Phoebe and I were just chilling in our dorm, and that's when I heard a knock on the door.  
I got up to check who was knocking on our door, and it was no other than Arnold.

"Hi, Helga." Arnold greeted.

"Hi. What brings you here?" I said.

"I just wanna hang out."

"Whatever floats your boat."

I liked the fact that Arnold had made the effort to come and hang out with me. It made me feel internally fangirly, as much as I didn't want to admit it.  
I loved and enjoyed Phoebe's company, but I wanted to spend some time with just Arnold at that moment.

"Phoebe, how about you go clean your glasses in the bathroom?" I said.

"I gotcha. I get that you just want spend time with him for now, you coulda just said so." Phoebe said.  
Phoebe left our dorm room, so it was just Arnold and me.

"Why did you choose now to hang out with me?" I asked.

"Why not?" Asked Arnold.

"There's just a lot more times, like when we go out as a class, whatever we're gonna do."

"You want me to leave?"

"NO!! I mean, that won't be necessary."

"I was just teasing."

Arnold and I started talking, and it made me happy that the words were coming naturally. It was surprisingly easy to talk to him. I felt a wave of butterflies in my stomach. It was so strange to me, because I wasn't used to having fuzzy feelings. I've never really saw myself as the type for that.  
I had to bring up our kiss, I was procrastinating on that for too long. It might've been weird to bring it up in the middle of the conversation but I did anyway.

"Arnold, sorry if this is out of the blue, but what did you think about the kiss at Rhonda's party?" I said. 

My heart started pounding, why the hell was my heart pounding? I wasn't used to stuff like this.

"It was fun. I enjoyed it." Arnold said.

"Good to hear. This is our first time talking about it." I said.

"I was scared to bring it up. I-I wasn't sure if you'd want to!" Arnold awkwardly said. "But I gotta ask... why'd you kiss me so long?"

"Why did YOU kiss me so long, football head?" I pulled the reverse card on him.

"No, Helga, you can't turn this around on me. Even though the kiss was mutual, you kissed me first. Silly girl." Said Arnold.

I blushed uncontrollably at that moment as my face was heating up from it. Why must he have this effect on me?

"I was doing the dare, football head! I was just being professional." I said.

"Sure you were." Arnold said flirtatiously as he gazed into my eyes. His emerald eyes were gorgeous.

Then, he did something I didn't expect. He crashed his lips against mine. This was the second time that our lips had met and I secretly hoped that it wouldn't be the last, though I didn't know wht he did it.

"Sorry, I-I couldn't control myself." Arnold said. 

"It's okay, I liked it and it's not like the first time that has happened." I shot back.

I noticed Arnold blushing in silence.

"What did this mean?" I asked.

"It meant something for sure." Arnold told me. The butterflies in my stomach were feeling more active.

"You know I have to ask this... do you still have feelings for Lila?" I asked.

"I do not, to be honest. My feelings for her went away before you even arrived at Hillwood." Arnold told me.

"Why did you stay with her, then?"

"My relationship with Lila was going downhill for a long time actually. We just didn't want to say anything.  
I had dreamed of being with her for a long time before we got together. She was everything I wanted, and I was so happy when we finally got together. But I soon found out that our relationship wasn't as great as I had dreamed. We didn't have anything in common and I realized I was so bored with our relationship.  
I know that it's natural for the heat to die down in a relationship after a while. But it was more than that for Lila and me. I felt like that we were so emotionally distant. I didn't understand why because I had dreamed of being with Lila before our relationship. Looking back, it was superficial. We stayed with each other because we didn't want to hurt each other and we were the most popular people in school.  
When you and I kissed both of those times, and even when I talk to you... I get a rush of excitement that Lila never made me feel. Not only that, you're so nice, funny, and smart... and I love your sarcasm and you're also pretty on top of that.  
Sorry if this is too soon but... I like you like you."


	9. Revealing Secrets Pt. 2

"You like me like me?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do. Is this too soon? I'm sorry if it is, I just-" Arnold started to say.

"It's not too soon. I'm just surprised that you feel the same way."

"You like me too?"

"How could I not, football head?"

"Thank god, I was worried you wouldn't feel the same way-"

"Shut up and kiss me again."

Arnold's face turned red as a tomato as he widely smiled. He then obeyed me and pulled me into a kiss. My heart started racing as our lips locked again. I had realized that I was allowing this boy to make me soft, and I didn't really mind.

We broke our kiss after a few seconds and I tried not to blush afterwards. It made me kind of mad that I was able to harbor these kinds of fuzzy, lovey-dovey feelings because I didn't see myself as that type. But at the same time, I liked the way it felt. I liked feeling this different unfamiliar feeling and I was willing to go out of my comfort zone for Arnold. I've never met anyone like him before and he was worth it for me.  
Next thing you know, my dorm door bolted open, entering Phoebe.

"Helga, it's time to get on the bus. Same with you, Arnold." Phoebe said.

"Let's go, Arnold." I said.

Phoebe, Arnold, and I had boarded the bus for our first field trip. And secrets were still unvraveling...  
I made my way to the back of the bus with Phoebe. That's when Lila came up to us.

"Hi Phoebe, I'm ever so sorry to bother you, but can I sit with Helga today?" Lila asked.

"Why do you want want to sit with Helga?" Phoebe asked.

"I just need to talk to her about something." Lila said sheepishly.

I was sure of what Lila wanted to talk to me about. She had wanted to talk to about what I saw in the girl's shower room. And possibly about Arnold as well. I knew I couldn't avoid it forever.

I sighed. "Let her sit with me, Phoebe." I said a tad bit reluctantly.

"If you insist, Helga." Phoebe said.

"Thanks ever so much, guys." Lila said.

Phoebe got up from her seat and went to go look for a new seat. Lila sat down next to me, and I felt kind of weird. I mean, talking to the ex of a guy you are developing a thing with is awkward enough. But talking to the said ex after catching her kissing a girl not too long after the break up is even more awkward.

"This may be ever so awkward for you, but I just want to clear the air with you about some... things." Lila told me.

Wow, this girl read my mind. Also, I noticed a pattern in her speech. She couldn't go a sentence without using the words "ever so." I didn't know what was up with that.

"What things?" I played dumb a bit.

"About me kissing Jill and what you asked me about it." Lila whispered.

"Oh yeah, I did ask you if you dated Arnold to hide the fact that you liked girls. That might've been a bit harsh of me. I just say things without thinking sometimes." I told Lila.

"It's ever so fine. That's not entirely true though. I really did like Arnold at one point. But it was oh so superficial."

"Are you really comfortable telling me about all of this? We barely know each other."

"Yeah, why ever not? You and Arnold seem to be developing a thing, and you deserve to know the truth."

"Alright, then. Opening up to people I barely know is weird to me personally, but we are all different, after all."

"I sure can understand that. But I'm fine with telling you about this. I really did like Arnold at one point, or at least I thought I did, but that was short lived. I think we were bored of each other for a while, but didn't say anything for a long time. And along the way, I realized that I didn't like guys in that way. I'm a lesbian. But I stayed with Arnold because I didn't want to hurt him. I was scared to tell him the truth." Lila explained.

Arnold had explained something similar to me. He basically said the same thing, minus Lila being gay of course. I did not expect this kind of explanation for their break up at all.

"Do you realize that you were hurting Arnold either way? You were still hurting him by staying with him when you didn't like him anymore." I said.

I was surprised at what just came out of my mouth. I usually wasn't the type to give insight like that.

"I know that now. I was just ever so afraid. But I realize it now." Lila said.

"This whole time, I thought that me kissing Arnold was the reason for your breakup." I said.

"Not fully, at least. We lost feelings for each other a long time ago. But to be honest, I was in on the dare with Rhonda..."

"Wait what?"

"I know, it's ever so strange. But that's why I was okay with it. We could both tell you two like each other... and Rhonda already knew that I wasn't exactly happy being with Arnold."

"Wait, it was obvious that I like him?" I said a bit frantically.

"A little..." Lila giggled.

There was an awkward silence for about five seconds before one of us talked again.

"This conversation has been a bit crazy. But Lila, I can tell that you don't have bad intentions, so I applaud you for that." I told Lila.

"Thanks, Helga. And thanks for keeping my secret.  
The reason I wanted that secret kept is because I'm secretly scared that people won't accept me."

"Anyone who won't accept you for your sexuality is an idiot, Lila. Trust me, I've witnessed my sister not get accepted for who she was. And those people who didn't accept her are stupid."

"Wow, thank you ever so much, Helga."

The bus had stopped shortly after Lila had thanked me. I had heard some things that I didn't expect to hear. Not only that, I had also said some things I didn't expect either. I normally wasn't good at comforting people, so telling Lila what I told her was a bit... different for me.

"I hope you guys learn a lot about this city while we're here! It's so special!" Mr. Simmons announced.

We had arrived at this restaurant where I had actually never been before.  
As our class made our way out of our bus, I saw this gray haired, strong looking man with a unibrow that matched his hair color. He was wearing a light green polo shirt and brown trousers.

I couldn't believe it. This man was no other than my father. I hadn't seen him since before he left my mother. Which was three years ago. I didn't think I'd actually see him here, let alone on the second day of the trip.

3 years ago...  
I woke up early to get ready for my first day of eigth grade, my last year of middle school. I was going to be away from Olga a lot of the time, because she was starting high school.

I went to the kitchen to eat breakfast and ask my parents for a ride to school. Not that they'd want to, but I'd at least try. Bob and Miriam really didn't care about me. Not one bit, even. They always neglected me and treated me like I didn't exist. It made me so angry. I spent a lot of time resenting the fact that my parents didn't pay as much attention to me as they should've been. Going to therapy helped with that anger, but it wasn't surpressed every minute of everyday of course. If it was, I wouldn't have broke the arm of Olga's bully.

The second I walked into our kitchen, I heard loud, piericing screaming. It was already giving me a headache. The yelling was coming from Bob and Miriram. They were fighting all summer, and I was sick of hearing it. The arguing had followed into the morning of the first day of school.

"I'm so sick of your bullshit, Bob! You don't care about me, you don't care about the girls, all you care about is yourself and your job!" My mother screamed whole holding a bottle of Moonshine.

"You're one to talk, Miriam! You won't stop drinking! That's all you do." My dad screamed.

They proceeded to say a bunch of horrible things that I don't exactly remember. I just remember they were intense. I do remember the last thing said and done in that heated argument.

My mom took the last sip of her Moonshine, the bottle now empty. She then chucked the bottle at my dad, and glass shards were all over the floor.

"What the hell, Miriam?" Bob yelled.

"We are done, Bob. I don't even know why I married you." Miriam told Bob, shedding a tear.

And then not long after that incident, they filed for divorce.  
Present day.  
When they got divorced, I built walls around me in fear of getting hurt. I didn't want to experience something like that again. It sure was scary and a bit confusing for thirteen year old me.

And the fact that I built a rough exterior after that incident is why I like to consider myself tough.  
But Arnold is causing my walls to break down a bit, and that scares me, but I guess I'm willing to get outside of my comfort zone for him. I think... it's a risk I'm willing to take.


	10. Be Mine

"Helga?" I heard a male voice in the distance of my flashback thoughts.

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts, and I saw Arnold looking concerned.

"Are you okay? You zoned out." Arnold said.

"I know, I was there." I said jokingly. "But I'm okay." I reassured him.

"I was just making sure." Arnold said.

Arnold and I exchanged warm smiles at each other, and it made my butterflies in my stomach act up once again.

Our class went to go sit down at one of the tables, and that's when my dad came over to us.

"Hello, I am Bob, your waiter. What would you guys like to drink?" He said.

I couldn't believe that my absentee father was our waiter. How small could this world get? And what happened to his beeper job? He probably lost it because beepers aren't in anymore, and he got a new job as a waiter. But still, this was just too crazy and I felt awkward sitting in front of him. I hadn't seen him since the incident when I was thirteen.

I wanted to pretend that I didn't know him, and just treat him like a waiter whom I've never met before. I didn't want to create a scene and I didn't want people interrogating me about my father.

"Uh, yeah, I'll have an orange soda, please." I ordered just like I normally would, pretending that the waiter wasn't my estranged father.

"Phoebe, can I see you for a minute in the bathroom?" I asked.

"Sure..." Phoebe responded with a hint of confusion in her voice.

Phoebe and I left the table and headed to the bathroom. I was comfortable telling Phoebe about my dad, and I felt like I needed to tell someone.

"Okay Pheebs, so this might sound like the craziest thing ever, but... our waiter is actually my dad." I explained.

"What?! He is your dad?" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Yep, that's what I just said... and I haven't seen him in three years."

"If you don't mind me asking... what exactly happened with him?"

Here we go. I've told Phoebe about Olga getting bullied, but I hadn't told anyone about my home life. It was so rocky and difficult to talk about for me. But I suppose I could break out of my shell a bit and tell my new best friend a small portion of it.

"He neglected me, and always fought with my mom. They got divorced when I was thirteen, and he stayed here when I moved to Hillwood." I briefly explained.

"That's horrible, Helga..." Phoebe said.

"Yeah, ain't it? Not everything can be sunshine and rainbows."

"I'm just thinking out loud here, but... would you think I'm crazy if I say it might've been fate that you came across him again?"

"Yeah, I would. He's probably still the same person he was. Just because he apparently isn't a beeper salesman anymore doesn't mean he's changed."  
"Beeper salesman? I haven't seen a beeper in so long."

"Yeah, he thought he could keep that store running forever."

"But really, do you think it could be fate that you saw your father?"

"I don't know, Pheebs. But if it'll really make you happy, I guess I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for talking with me."

After I let out my frustrations to Phoebe, we returned to our table. Our drinks had arrived at the table while we were in the bathroom, and I noticed there was a small piece of paper attached to my glass. I confusingly detatched the paper from the cup to read it.

Dear Helga,  
Please meet me after lunch. I need to talk to you.  
Sincerely, Bob.

Was this some kind of sick joke? How does he just casually send me a note after neglecting me for years? He never cared about me, what made him think he should just start caring out of the blue now?  
But on the other hand, maybe Phoebe was right and I should give him a chance. Just one more chance.

Before I could finish my conflicting thoughts about my blowhard father, I felt a tap on my hand. Arnold was sitting next to me. I looked down, and his hand was touching mine. He then interlaced his fingers with mine as I started internally swooning. Our holding hands were under the table so nobody could see. I preferred it that way for now. I didn't want to openly hold hands with him in front of everybody just yet.

"Are you alright?" Arnold asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great." I said.

"Just making sure. You looked... a bit tense." Arnold told me.

I guess Arnold could notice something was bothering   
me. I decided that I would tell him about my dad soon, but not right at the table.

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine, Arnold." I reassured.

"I'm glad to hear it, pink bow." Arnold smiled at me.  
I swooned and fangirled inside my mind again when he called me pink bow. I didn't know why, but I liked that.

"I told you I'd start calling you pink bow." Arnold told me.

"Took you a while, football head." I sarcastically shot back.

"Better late than never, pink bow." Said Arnold.  
That nickname brought another grin to my face, and I didn't know why I liked it so much. I snapped out of it by shaking my head vigorously so I didn't seem like I was having fluffy daydreams at the table.

After lunch...

I decided to meet up with my dad after all. I would be lying if I said I thought it was a completely good decision. I was the kind of person to hold grudges for a long time. So I still felt anger inside of me when I looked at him, even after three years. In that span of three years, he neglected me, forced Olga to be perfect at everything, and blatantly ignored the fact that my mom had a drinking problem. Bob just didn't care about any of our well beings. But a part of me was curious of what he had to say to me. I had wondered if he wanted redemption and how he would try to get it if he did.  
I met my father outside of the restaurant while everyone else was still inside.

"Hey, Helga." He said to me.

A part of me was angry at that. How could he just casually "Hey Helga" me after three years of not caring for me like he was supposed to?

But then I realized that he actually called me Helga, which is something he rarely ever did. He always called by my sister's name, Olga. Which infuriated me.

"So, you lost your beeper job?" I asked. Really?   
That's what I bring up first? I thought.

"Watch it, little lady. I'm your father." Bob said.

"Well you sure don't act like it." I told him, unafraid to call him out on his crap.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. When I saw that you were here with what seems to be your class, I realized I missed you and I couldn't pass up the chance to talk to you. And I'm sorry for how I treated you, Helga."

"It's not just me you hurt. You hurt Olga and mom too. You didn't care that Olga was getting bullied or that mom had an alcohol problem."

"I thought about that while you three were gone. And I regret neglecting you girls when you needed me. I'm sorry."

"I'll think about the apology. I need to get back to my class now."

I was surprised that my father had put aside his Pataki pride and actually apologized. But I wasn't the person to forgive that easily, especially when it came to stuff like this. But I at least had it in me to think about the apology for a little while.

I was glad to get back to my dorm after the pretty exhausting and strange day. I was too drained to put thought into what Bob said, so I just put it off for that day.

Phoebe had went off to hang out with Gerald, so it was just me hanging out in the dorm. That was, until I heard a knock on the door. I sighed and went over to see who it was.  
I opened the dorm door, and as expected, it was Arnold.

"Come to see me again, blue cap?" I asked.

"Blue cap? That's a new one." Arnold said.

"You call me pink bow, and you wear a blue cap. So I thought it would be cool to call you blue cap."

"Pink bow and blue cap... that sounds cool."

"Come in, blue cap."

Arnold made his way into my room, and I was excited to see him again.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Even better now that you're in my presence." Arnold told me.

I let out an inaudible lovesick sigh after he said that sentence.

"Do you know the waiter from the restaurant?" Arnold abruptly pried. I was surprised, because it was so sudden and random.

"Why are you asking that?" I asked.

"You seemed a bit uneasy and awkward when you talked to him, and you aren't normally awkward when talking to people. And right when he left, you wanted to talk to Phoebe alone." Arnold explained.

"Damn, who knew you were so good at figuring out little clues?"

"So you're admitting you know him?"

"Yeah. He's my estranged father..."

"What?!"

"Yeah, you heard me. Isn't it crazy that I ran into him so quickly?"

"I understand if you don't want to share... but what happened with him?"

I didn't know what it was about Arnold. But I just felt like I could tell him anything. I wasn't usually comfortable sharing stuff with people, and I didn't imagine entering Hillwood being able to share life stuff. But I trusted and liked Arnold so much, and I felt as though I could tell him whatever.

So that's what I did. I told him everything about my father's neglect, and how the last time I saw him was when he and my mom got divorced after that giant argument. Everytime I told Arnold something about me or my life, I felt like I got closer to him.

"How could he treat you like that? That's horrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you." Arnold comforted.

"He apologized today. But I can't seem to get past the past, you know?" I said.

"You don't need to feel pressured to forgive him."  
"Thanks, Arnold."

"Since you told me about your home life... I think I should tell you why I always wear a blue cap."

"There's a deep reason for that?"

"Yeah... I haven't seen my parents since I was a year old. So I haven't seen them in fifteen years. They went on a mission in San Lorenzo and never returned. Before they left, they gave me this blue hat, and I wear it to remember them.  
Everyone thinks that just because you are popular, your life is perfect. But that isn't true. We just don't want to tell everyone about our lives. I'm not a perfect human being, nobody is. And nobody knows the pain that I go through with my parents being gone."

I didn't know what to say because I wasn't the best at comforting people. But I really felt for him, and I was sad to hear about what I just heard. I walked over to Arnold, and I hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around me as well, and we just stayed silent holding each other. Even though we weren't speaking, I comforted him in the best way I could, and we just connected as we were in each other arms.

Still hugging Arnold, I broke the silence by saying "I'm sorry to hear that Arnold you don't deserve to go through that. I knew you weren't perfect, but that's okay because you are perfect for me."

"Be mine, Helga. Will you be my girlfriend?" Arnold asked.

I smiled so widely before replying, "Yes."


	11. Going Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fluff in this chapter :)

I, Helga Geradine Pataki, just entered a relationship with the most amazing guy I've ever met. He liked me back, he really liked me back. Was I dreaming?  
I would've have been lying if I said wasn't scared. Because a part of me was afraid of giving myself to someone through commitment, but Arnold inspired me in a way no one else could. He inspired me to take a risk for someone I really care about. He inspired me to become the best I can be. So I took that step out of my comfort zone for him. Because I felt myself care about him more than anything I've ever cared about before. It happened pretty fast, but I was sure of it.

I took another step and planted a kiss on his lips. I slowly cupped his face and closed my eyes to savor the moment. This was not our first kiss, but it was our first kiss as an official couple. And something about this kiss was more ecstatic than our previous ones.

After I broke the kiss, we both didn't say a word, we just gazed at each other with blushing faces.

"You know what's special about you?" Arnold asked me.

"What's special about me?" I asked.

"You're one of the only people who like me for who I really am, not the label I have. That makes you special in my book." Arnold said.

I let out a soft, lovesick sigh after he said that. I was in a romantic mood, but with romantic Helga, you also get real and straight-up Helga. So I was about to lay something real on him, but also kind of romantic at the same time.

"People who only like you because of your popularity and not your kind heart and amazing personality are idiots. You're much more than a popular guy. I like you and care about you because of who you are, not what you have." I told Arnold.

"Thank you so much, Helga. You're amazing in every way. I'm so glad to have met you." Arnold replied.  
I wasn't used to having heartfelt conversations with people, but with Arnold, it felt amazing.

Nothing else very much worth mentioning happened on the trip, just normal vacation stuff. One week later, it was time to go back to Hillwood. Being back at my hometown for a class trip was interesting to say the least.

Over the week, I got to think about what my dad said to me. About him being sorry for treating me the way he did. A part of me was still bitter and felt like I'd always hold some resentment for what he did to me in the past. But another part of me appreciated that he threw his pride in the trash for that moment to apologize. If I ever did see my dad again, it probably wouldn't be for a very long time because he and my mom are divorced. But I tried my best to let go even though I knew I probably couldn't fully do that.

Our class then got ready to board our airplane back to Hillwood. I was slightly surprised about how much I enjoyed the trip, but I was glad to go back to Hillwood. I was glad to go see Olga and start my life in Hillwood as a girl who is dating Arnold.

I went to an open seat on the airplane by one of the windows. I noticed that Arnold was following me and sat in the seat next to me.

"Glad to see you here, blue cap." I said.

"Of course I want to be sitting next to my girlfriend on the way home." Arnold said.

Oh my god, why is my heart beating so fast? Why must he do this? I thought as I grabbed Arnold's hand and laced our fingers together.

Arnold then rested his head on my shoulder as our hands interlaced.

"So, how did you like the trip?" Arnold asked.

"It was pretty good." I said.

"Was it because I was there?" Arnold asked.

"Maybe." I said nonchalantly to tease him.

Arnold then gave me side eyes as he smirked, causing my face to turn red again, which was something that often happened when I was around him.

"Yes..." I admitted.

"I knew it." Arnold said.

"Then why did you make me say it? I blushed in front of you and everything!"

"I like it when I make you blush."

"You are a such a sap."

"But I'm your sap."

Arnold sometimes said the cheesiest things, but I secretly adored that.

We sat in our seats holding hands as our plane took off to go back to Hillwood. I was at peace with his hand in mine. I felt a sense of security with his head on my shoulder. I didn't worry about what would happen when we returned home. All I thought about in that moment was him. I didn't know what it was, but he gave me hope, comfort, and joy.

About four hours later, the plane landed and our class trip was officially over. I couldn't wait to see Olga and hopefully my mother too.

Once our class left the plane, we made it back to Hillwood airport, the place we left a week ago.

"Baby sis!" A cheery, excited, slightly high voice was heard from the distance.

I turned around and I saw that Olga was waiting for me by the baggage claim. I rushed over to her and gave her a warm reunion hug.

"I missed you so much!" Olga exclaimed.

"I missed you too." I said.

"How was the trip?" Olga asked.

"It was great. And uh, pretty eventful."

"You'll have to tell me all about it when we get home! I want to hear the details!"

"I will."

Since Christmas was right around the corner, the airport was covered in Christmas decorations. There was a Christmas tree with shiny red and blue ornaments and fake presents. There were also luminous red and green Christmas lights. It was very festive for the upcoming time of year.

I walked over to Arnold who was waiting a few feet away from the first chair in the airport terminal. Everyone in our class had already left to go back to their houses, so we were the only people from Mr. Simmons' class in thr airport.

"Hi, Arnold." I greeted to him. In the time I've known him, I've called him football head or blue cap a lot. And those nicknames I have for him make it more special when I call him by his actual name.

"Hi, Helga." Arnold said.

"Are you glad to be back home?"

"It's a bittersweet feeling. I think I'll miss California but I do like being back in Hillwood. And I'm glad to spend time with you here."

My face turned a light hue of pink when he said that. Usually I wasn't the overly lovey dovey type or at least I wasn't one to show it, but ironically enough, when Arnold said the the littlest romantic thing, I felt butterflies. What was he doing to me?

"Helga, look above you." Arnold said sheepishly as he pointed to the ceiling.

I looked up at the ceiling and hanging there was a miseltoe, another one of the festive Christmas decorations that I didn't notice before.

"We're under the miseltoe..." Arnold pointed out.

"Did you go under the miseltoe on purpose because you knew I would follow you?" I asked.

"Maybe." Arnold said, a simper on his football face following.

"You know you don't need to use the miseltoe as an excuse to kiss me." I said flirtatiously and leaned in for his lips slowly and sweetly. Arnold returned the kiss with the same rhythm as me and started stroking my hair. I was a bit nervous because we were literally standing in a public airport as we kissed, but I quickly directed my mind back to Arnold and only Arnold.

Our faces were the same shade of read after the kiss ended, and I could hear my own heartbeat.

"I'll see you later, beautiful." Arnold said.


	12. Back to School

As Arnold walked off, I clasped my hands together, closed my eyes, and let out a soft sigh in adoration.

I headed back to the baggage claim where Olga was waiting for me. She was going to be driving me back home.

As I took my seat in the passenger seat of the car, Olga immediately started acting hyper.

"You need to tell me all of the details!" Olga loudly said in a chipper voice.

"It's too early for you to be this loud." I grouchy replied.

"I'll stop being loud when you give the details." Olga said.

"Okay fine. I got together with that guy I was talking about..." I bluntly told her.

Olga then started clapping at what I said.

"Olga, keep your hands on the damn steering wheel!" I called out.

"Sorry. I'm just happy for you, baby sis." Olga said as she put her hands back on the steering wheel.

"You could've just said so instead of putting us in danger."

"It was only for like one second. You're always so dramatic, baby sis."

"Yeah, okay. But I have something else to tell you."

"What is it?"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "I saw dad." I told her.

"Are you serious? What happened?" Olga asked.

"He told me to meet him and he apologized..."

"I can't believe you saw him! What did you say?"

"I can't fully let go of the past. I mean, he neglected me! But I do appreciate the apology..."

"I understand. I remember he put so much stress on me to be perfect. I would have mental breakdowns trying to get my studying and piano playing as perfect as can be. I got tired ot it because I wanted to please him. But I do wish him the best."

For the remainder of the car ride, I told Olga about what happened on the class trip. About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at our house.

We rushed in to our house to find my mother waiting in the living room. She looked pretty happy to see us walking in.

"Hi girls!" Miriam greeted us, holding her arms out for a hug. Her voice was more steady and lessed slurred.

Olga and I both walked over to hug our mother in reunion.

"Guess what guys? I'm clean!" Miriam said as she broke the hug.

"That's great mother! I'm so happy for you!" I exclaimed. And I really was happy for her. I'm glad she got the help she needed for her alcoholism. Maybe this fresh start really worked after all.

Two weeks later...

I spent a lot of the remaining winter break time with Arnold. And today, we were going back to school. We had decided to keep our new relationship a secret from the school for the time being, since neither of us were ready to be in the spotlight with it so early. Because at PS 118, the word about everything gets around as quick as lightning. We didn't want to keep our relationship a secret forever, but we didn't want the spotlight right when we returned from winter break.

I tried not to act too differently around Arnold in public for now. I tried to act like I normally did before we left for the break.

I met Phoebe by her locker after getting my stuff so I could talk to her before class started.

"Hi, Helga." Phoebe greeted.

"Good morning. I have something to tell you but you can't tell anyone." I told Phoebe.

"Is it what I think it is?" Phoebe asked excitedly.

"Yes, Arnold and I are dating." I said.

"Oh my god, congratulations!" Phoebe exclaimed eagerly.

"Please don't tell anyone. At least not now. It's a secret."

"I won't, but I just wanna know, why do you want it to be a secret?"

"I'm not comfortable with everyone knowing this soon. Neither is Arnold."

"Okay, I understand. Your secret is safe with me. Your awesome secret is safe with me."

The bell rang, indicating that we had five minutes to get to our first class of the day.

"Let's get to class, Phoebe." I said.

"Hurrying!" Phoebe said as she gave me a thumbs up sign.

During first period English class with Mr. Simmons, we just talked about the class trip and what we learned on it. I was kind of bored with hearing Mr. Simmons and everyone else talking about it, because all I really cared about was Arnold. I sneakily took my pink notebook and black pen out of my backpack, and started writing some poems instead of paying attention in class. I had trouble thinking of exactly what to write, so I glanced at Arnold from across the room. That made me notice that he was staring at me while smirking. It made me go crazy inside and I liked it when he smirked. I smiled back momentarily before mouthing to him "don't make this so obvious!" Arnold seemed to be able to read my lips so he looked back at the board with a smirk still on his face. For the rest of the period, I continued to write in my diary

A few hours later, it was time for lunch. Arnold, Phoebe, Gerald, and I sat down at a table with our food.

"You could think of this as a double date." Phoebe whispered to me.

"A double date in the school cafeteria, very romantic." I sarcastically said.

"It doesn't matter where you are, as long as you're with the people you care about."

"That sounds awfully sappy but you've got a point."

"What are you guys talking about?" Arnold asked.

"Oh, nothing, babe. I-I mean... bro! Nothing bro." I awkwardly stumbled.

"It's okay, Gerald knows. Hope you don't mind that." Arnold said.

"Okay. We weren't talking about anything important, babe." I said.

"You're not gonna act like that all the time around me, are you? I'm trying to eat." Gerald said jokingly.

"Chill, I just called him a pet name." I said.

Arnold, Phoebe, Gerald, and I just hung out for the remainder of the lunch period, goofing around and talking about random stuff. I was grateful to have a group of people I clicked naturally with.

About five minutes before lunch ended, Arnold and Gerald left our table to go throw away their trash.

"How did Arnold take it when you told him why you were expelled from your old school?" Phoebe asked.

I sat there silent, rolling my eyes to look around around the room in awkwardness, still keeping my head in the same place. I distatched my eye contact from Phoebe in realization that Arnold never knew why I was at PS 118 in the first place. I got into a physical fight with Olga's bully and was expelled.

"Earth to Helga!" Phoebe called out, snapping me back into the conversation.

"That did not come up..." I admitted.

"Helga... you have to tell him. You can't keep this big secret for him." Phoebe said.

"I'm scared to! What if it pushes him away?"

"I think he will understand. He seems like a very understanding person, and you are changing for the better. I'm not saying it was right of you to get into that fight, but it's in the past and I know you don't want to get in fights anymore. And if Arnold likes and trusts you, he will understand that."

"I'm going to the bathroom." I said, wanting to run away from the conversation. I left my pink notebook on the table and walked off to think about what Phoebe had said to me.

I walked into the girls bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.

"Why did she have to remind me about my past? Why do I have to go through this trouble to tell Arnold that I was literally expelled from my old stinkin' high school? But I know that's she's right deep down, and I have to trust Arnold with this. And I do..." I pleaded while adjusting my blonde hair.

I told Arnold about my parents neglecting me and about Olga's bullying, but I never told him that I was expelled for fighting. Ever since my dad left my family and me, I became secretly utterly afraid of people leaving me.

I took a deep breath and stood still while eyeing myself in the bathroom mirror.

"I will find a time to tell Arnold the rest of my past. It'll be okay, Helga old girl." I said.

I then saw a black haired person in the mirror walk in behind me, and it was no other than Rhonda.

"Hello, Helga. How is your relationship with Arnold? Is you guys dating going well?" Rhonda asked.

I turned around to face her. "Um... Arnold and I aren't together." I lied.

Rhonda then sneezed, but it was obviously a forced fake sneeze.

"Sorry, I'm just allergic to bullshit." Rhonda said.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "How did you know?" I asked.

"Because I'm Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. I know everything." Rhonda pompously said as she whipped a side of her hair back.

"You can't tell anyone yet. It's a secret for now. We'll tell people, just not now." I explained.

"I'll keep your little secret... if you do something for me..." Rhonda said.

"Rhonda, stop this." I heard behind me.

"Patty, how long have you been here?" Rhonda asked.

"I just got here, but I heard your conversation outside the door." The girl behind me said.

"Why were you eavesdropping?" Rhonda said.

"Why are you trying to blackmail people again? Do I have to teach you a lesson?" The girl asked as she held out her fist.

"Okay, fine. Bye, Patty." Rhonda said as she exited the bathroom.

"Sorry about her. I'm Patty." The girl said.

"I'm used to girls like her, but thank you." I'm Helga.

"So, what's your next class?" Patty asked.

"Science." I said.

"Me too."

"Oh, I've seen you in there. My English class too."

"Do you wanna sit together in science?"

"Sure, why not?"

The bell rang, which meant lunch was over and we had five minutes until the next class. Patty and I both exited the girl's bathroom and I went back to where I was sitting to go get my pink diary.

The spot in the table was empty, and there was no book there. I started internally panicking. The book where I put all my secrets and poems in, was gone.

"Oh god, I'm such an idiot for just leaving it there." I mumbled to myself.

I then thought that maybe Phoebe was holding it for me. I found her walking to her next class, so I rushed over to her.

"Hey, Pheebs!" I called out.

"Yes, Helga?" Phoebe asked.

"Do you have my diary by any chance?" I asked.

"No, I'm afraid I don't..." Phoebe said.

Now was a time to panic. If Phoebe didn't have it, then who did? And what were they gonna be doing with it?


	13. The L Word

Now was a time to panic. If Phoebe didn't have it, then who did? And what were they gonna be doing with it?

"I left it on the table, and it just disappeared and you don't know where it is?" I asked frantically.

"I was on my phone, and when I looked away from it, the book was gone..." Phoebe admitted.

"How could you let this happen? There are so many secrets in that book!"

"I'm sorry... but after school we can go to the lost and found."

"Sounds good. Let's just go to class before we're late."

After school...

Phoebe and I had gone to the school lost and found to search for my diary.

"So what's in this book that you are so desperate to hide?" Phoebe asked as she scavenged through people's lost items.

"Pretty much everything since I first moved here. I've been writing about my life in diaries since I was in first grade. This is my twentieth one. And this current book in particular has a lot of stuff about Arnold. It would be embarrassing if people were to read that sappy stuff." I explained.

"Wow, that is a lot of dedication. I really hope we'll find it before someone reads it." Phoebe said.

"Mind if I join you in the search?" A voice behind me uttered. I turned around and it was the girl who stood up for me earlier, Patty.

"Go right ahead." I said.

"I'm Patty." Patty introduced to Phoebe.

"I'm Phoebe." Phoebe introduced.

"I know I just met you guys, but I want to confide about you in something." Patty said.

"What's on your mind?" Phoebe asked.

"I like this guy... but he has a rocky reputation. I'm not sure if he is right for me." Patty said nervously.

"I've learned not to judge people based on their reputation. You shouldn't do that. Who is it?" I said.

"His name is Harold." Patty said.

Harold is the player who Phoebe had warned me about in the beginning of the school year. I didn't want to stop Patty from seeing him because that would be hypocritical since I had just said to not judge people based on their reputations. But I still wanted my new friend to be careful when it came to him. If this was months ago, I'd say I'd break his face if he broke her heart. But I'm trying not to threaten violence anymore.

"We've been hanging out a lot, ever since we got assigned to be partners on the class project..." Patty said.

"The only advice I can give you is to be careful." I cautioned.

"Speaking of romance, when are you gonna tell Arnold about you know what?" Phoebe asked me.

"I need to find the right time. I don't like admitting this, but I'm scared. I'm scared what I did in the past would push him away, and I'm scared he might get bored of me one day. But my love for him is stronger than my fears-"

That was the first time I had dropped the big L word about him. It scared me, but I realized that I, Helga Geraldine Pataki loved Arnold Phillip Shortman.

Phoebe's face lit up and gasped after I said that.

"Did you just say the L word?" Phoebe said, sounding perky.

"Yes... I... I love Arnold. I've never ever felt the things I feel for him, and I want him to be in my life forever. I love Arnold." I admitted.

"This is so exciting." Phoebe said.

"You have to tell him." Said Patty.

"So now I have two things to tell Arnold. But I have to find the right time." I said nervously.

"You can do it, Helga."

"Yeah, but let's try and find my book first."

Phoebe, Patty, and I had spent more time searching for my diary, but there was no luck. It was nowhere to be found, which made me panic even more. But I had no choice but to go home and try again tomorrow.

The next day...

I had three things to worry about, because peace was never an option apparently.

I had to worry about telling Arnold why I'm at this school in the first place, finding my missing diary, and... telling Arnold that I am absolutely, positively in love with him.

Lunchtime rolled around, and just like the first day I arrived, Rhonda was standing on an empty lunch table like she ruled the cafeteria.

"EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND LISTEN!" She yelled, and got everyone's attention like she was a queen or something.

"I am having a party tomorrow! Everyone is invited, even losers. You're welcome." Rhonda announced.

Princess Rhonda Lloyd was going to be throwing another party. I decided that I was going to be talking to Arnold about the things I needed to talk about at that party. That was, if people didn't pay a bunch of attention to us. I couldn't let my fears stop me from doing this.

A few hours later, I arrived home. I came home to an angry looking Inga crossing her arms. And in her right hand, there was a pink book that looked just like the diary I had been looking for. I was so confused when I walked through door. First of all, Inga wasn't supposed to be my nanny anymore. What was she doing at my house again? And second of all, how the hell did she have my diary?

"Helga. We need to talk." Inga said in a stern voice.

"About what?" I said confidently, but secretly, I was nervous for what she would say.

"This blonde girl returned this book to me, and told me to read it because there was some important information." Inga explained.

"You read my diary?!" I snapped with a hint of anger in my voice. I couldn't believe she would read my diary. I was livid that she disrespected my privacy like that. The stuff in there was only for me to see. Another thing I was thinking was that I was hoping that the blonde girl wasn't who I thought she was. Olga's main bully was blonde. But I was probably just too paranoid, I mean, there was millions of blonde people after all.

"I didn't know it was your diary at first. But I found something in it that makes me really disappointed in you." Said Inga.

"Who even gave you this anyway?" I asked.

"I don't know her name. But she had long straight blonde hair, blue eyes, and she was wearing a purple crop top with a pink heart in the middle, and blue jean shorts." Inga explained.

That was exactly what Olga's main bully looked like. But it didn't make any sense how she was here.

"Did she have a bitchy voice?" I asked.

"Watch your language. But between you and me, her voice was kind of annoying." Inga said.

"I bet it was." I said.

"Don't try to change the subject, missy. I read something in this book of yours that is very disappointing." Inga said.

"What is it?"

"You wrote about how you took your sister to a hotel during your trip to Anaheim after I said you had to take her with you."

"She was in on it."

"It doesn't matter if she was in on it or not. You defied me and you two were being very irresponsible. You thought I would never know about this, but I know. You're grounded for a week. You can't go anywhere, including school."

I was grounded for what I did before the trip to Anaheim. Which meant I couldn't go to Rhonda's party with Arnold and tell him what I needed to tell him. My plan was ruined.

"But you're not my nanny anymore." I stated.

"But this does concern me since you did this while I was your nanny. And besides, your mom and I have become friends, so I'm not completely leaving your life. Now go to your room." Said Inga.

On my way to my room, I stumbled upon an irritated Olga, the second person to look upset with me today.

"What's wrong, Olga?" I asked.

"You got me grounded. I had a date, but now I can't go because of you." Olga said.

"You had a date? That's exciting. Who's the lucky guy?" I asked, changing the subject.

"The lucky guy is actually a lucky girl, and don't try to change the subject, baby sis." Olga said.

"You were in on the plan back in December too." I stated.

"But it was your idea."

"I'm grounded too. If you had just decided to go with me, then us being grounded could've been avoided."

"You know damn well why I couldn't go! Why did you even need to go back to Anaheim so bad anyway?"

"Because Arnold was going and I'm in love with him!"

After I blurted that out, there was an awkward silence. I looked away from Olga, my face red from oversharing. I couldn't believe that I had blurted out the L word again.

"Love makes you do crazy things, doesn't it?" Olga broke the silence.

"I'm so embarrassed that I blurted that out!" I said.

"What you did wasn't the smartest, but I don't wanna be mad at you for it. I don't like being mad at you. I guess I got mad because I really like this girl. I think one day I could love her like you love Arnold." Olga said.

"It's weird talking about this sappy stuff but I suppose I've gotten used to it. And I guess I shouldn't have allowed you to take the blame for this shenanigan as well." I said.

"It's okay, baby sis. And I'm glad we can talk about this stuff."

"Yeah, me too. In another universe, I could've been too bitter to talk to you like this. So I'm glad we're close like this."

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"I just like to imagine stuff sometimes. It's part of my writer brain."

"You do have quite the imagination, baby sis."

"Yeah... also, I'm sorry for getting you grounded."

"I forgive you. I'm sure my date will understand."

"I hope Arnold understands...that I was only trying to help you..."

"What are talking about?"

"Phoebe said that I have to tell Arnold about the time I got expelled... for fighting."

"I'm sure he will understand. I appreciate you always sticking up for me even if you didn't always do it in the safest way... And he has to love you back, I mean, you know he has feelings for you and he'd be an idiot not to love you."

"Thanks, Olga."

"Anytime."

The next day...

Today was the day of Rhonda's party. And of course, I had to stay home. And I had to delay telling Arnold about my past and that I love him. I was sort of glad about that, because I wanted to procrastinate on it anyway. But another part of me just wanted to get it over with.

I mostly just spent the day writing in my diary now that I'd got it back. The day was kind of uneventful, until the end of the day. At ten in the afternoon, I heard knocking on my window, and I looked to see who it was. Arnold was standing by my window. The party that he went to had probably ended approximately half an hour ago.

"Oh, Hey Arnold! What are you doing here?" I asked after opening the window for him.

"I need to talk to you. Rhonda sent me this video and I need you to see it." Arnold said as he handed me his phone through the window.

I took Arnold's phone and pressed play. It was a video of everyone at the party sitting in Rhonda's living room. Standing in the middle of the room was the girl whom Inga had described earlier. The blonde girl with the purple tank top and jean shorts. I knew exactly who this person was. It was one of Olga's bullies, Summer. She stole my diary and bullied Olga. What the hell was she doing in Hillwood? It didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, I used to know Helga, who isn't here today. I have something to say about her. She got expelled from my school because she got into a fight with me and broke my arm! I was in so much pain until it healed... she's evil. I have come to Anaheim for revenge." Summer dramatically stated to everyone.

I felt like I was in some very strange dream. I was angry because of how persistent Summer was to mess with my sister and me. I was in shock and I was so creeped out at this whole thing. When did my life become some corny romantic dramedy story?

"Is this true, Helga?" Arnold asked.

"Yes..." I admitted.


	14. I Promise

"Is this true, Helga?" Arnold asked.

"Yes..." I admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Arnold asked.

"I wanted to tell you so many times... and I tried to. But Summer beat me to it. I'm sorry." I said.

"Helga, who are you talking to in there?" I heard behind my door before it swung open without warning, Inga barging into my room.

"Helga, why is there a boy at the window? You are grounded, no having people over." Inga said.

"Just give us a few minutes-" I started to say.

"You can talk when you're ungrounded. Right now, I need you to stay here and think about what you've done." Inga told me.

"Um... why are you grounded, Helga?" Arnold asked.

"I'll explain later." I said.

"Okay..." Arnold said as he closed my window and walked away from it.

"Helga... I hope you know that I only want what's best for you. I did rebellious things when I was your age and I didn't get disciplined for them. And I'm giving you a chance to think about things. I know you're trying to be a better person... and I can tell from your book that the guy who just showed up is helping with that." Inga explained.

"Thanks, I guess. I'll try not to do anything too crazy again." I said.

"I'll leave you alone now." Inga said.

For the rest of my grounding, I thought about everything. I was so nervous for when I got to go back to school. My talk with Arnold at the window was interrupted by Inga, so I was left with so many unanswered questions for days. Was Arnold mad at me or not? Was he going to act mad at me when I returned? Or would he understand? I nervously paced around my room, thinking about how he would react in several days. I thought about how much I loved him and how much I wanted him in my life forever. I was also nervous that I would most likely see Summer at school for the first time in almost a year. What would she do to me? What would she do to Olga? There were a lot of unanswered questions.

Six days later...

Today was my first day of being ungrounded. I was going back to PS 118 after my week long break. And it was also the day when I was going to get my questions answered after all the nervous anticipation.

I walked over to my locker to get my English textbook, and that's when I heard footsteps towards my direction.

"Hey Helga..." Arnold said.

"Hi, football head." I said.

"You wanna blow off first period to talk?" Arnold asked.

"What has gotten into you?" I asked.

"The golden boy isn't so golden it seems like."

"You don't have to be golden all the time."

"I guess I don't. But I really just wanna skip class because I can't wait any longer to say what I have to say."

"Yeah, I have been dying with anticipation myself. My nanny wouldn't let us finish our conversation."

Arnold suddenly grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers together. He then started walking with me as our hands met. This was a good sign. If he was upset with me, he wouldn't be holding my hand, right?

We walked together to the janitor's closet, and I was assuming Arnold wanted a more private place to talk.

"We aren't supposed to be here, are we?" I asked as we arrived.

"I'm not one hundred percent golden..." Arnold said, a chuckle following the words. "But seriously, I just want a more private place to talk."

"Look, I'm sorry for keeping that from you. I tried to tell you, but I procrastinated on it. Because ever since my parents got divorced, I've been scared of people leaving me. And you're very important to me." I explained.

"When I saw that video, I thought I was upset with you. Not for doing what you did, but for keeping it. But after your nanny sent me home and I thought about it at home, I realized that I wasn't upset with you. I couldn't ever be upset with you." Arnold said.

Arnold wasn't mad like I was worried he would be. Weight lifted off of my shoulders when I heard him say that.

"It's true that I did get into a physical altercation with Summer... I know violence isn't the answer, but she always bullied my sister and I guess I wasn't thinking and went ballistic. I had enough. And I was expelled from that school, and that's why I'm here... but I don't wanna do stuff like that ever again. I want to be a better person and you're helping me be a better person just by being in my life, Arnold."

"And I won't hold that against you. I don't usually hold things against people if I know they want to change for the better. I know you were just trying to protect your sister, even if it wasn't in the best way."

"You really made me worry these past days, you know that? I was scared that you were mad at me!"

"I'm sorry, Helga. I'm sorry if I came across that way."

"It's okay, now I know that we're good." I said before leaning in so my lips could touch his.

We shared a short but sweet kiss, and after it, I blurted out the words that had been on my mind for a while now.

"I love you, Arnold." I confessed. I immediately felt my cheeks heat up and change to red. It was my first time ever telling a boy that I loved him. Not just any boy, but Arnold Shortman.

"I love you too, Helga." Arnold said.

My heart fluttered in bliss when I heard those words said back to me. I hugged Arnold while our hearts mended together.

"I want to know everything about you. Every side of your beautiful self. Nothing could ever get in the way of us. Let's promise each other that." Arnold said.

"I promise. Nothing will ever get in the way of us." I said with my arms still wrapped around him, our hearts beating as one. We officially loved each other.

"So... we still got time before class ends. Do you wanna just stay here until the bell rings?" Arnold asked.

"Wow, you don't even wanna go to first period? What a rebel." I said jokingly.

"It's a little too late to go to first period... and I'd rather stay with you."

"And I will gladly stay here."

"I'm just curious... why were you grounded?"

"Funny story... Inga said I couldn't go on the trip unless Olga does. And she didn't want to because... well I'm sure you already know. So I told Inga that Olga was going on the trip, but really she went to stay at a hotel."

"Haha wow, can't believe you did that. Why did you?"

"Because I was just starting to have a huge crush on you and... I wanted to spend time with you on the trip." I admitted with an awkward chuckle and a slightly red face.

"I'm glad you say that because... I was just starting to crush on you hard myself." Arnold admitted with half lidded eyes.

I didn't say anything after that, but my face showed that I was swooning at that confession. I just stood there with this lovesick smile on my face. It was like hearts were coming out of my eyes.

"So... since Olga was so reluctant to go to Anaheim... how is it gonna be now that Summer is here?" Arnold broke the silence.

"I'll make sure she doesn't mess with Olga again... not in the same way I did last time I saw her of course. I won't let her label people either, because you know I don't like that." I said.

"I like how protective you are about the people you care about." Arnold said.

"And I like how you um... exist." I said. I immediately started chuckling awkwardly afterwards.

"Sorry, I'm not good at compliments or flirting." I said.

"I loved it when you said that. Also, something else I love about you is that you know I'm not perfect, but still treat me like I am."

"That's exactly something I love about you too."

"Are we taking turns saying stuff we love about each other now?"

"Yeah, I guess we are."

Arnold and I just stayed in the janitor's closet for the remainder of first period. When the bell rang a few minutes later, we went out into the hallway.

And that's when I saw Summer in person for the first time in almost a year.

"Oh look who we have here. Helga." Summer said.

"It's the aggressive girl." Some random student said.

"I'm here for you. You got this." Arnold said to me.


	15. Out of the Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter!

"It's the aggressive girl." Some random student said.

"I'm here for you. You got this." Arnold said to me.

"You're just one of those people who judges others based on one thing some idiot said about them. I pity you." I said to the student who called me agressive.

"Okay, don't hurt me!" The student said.

"I'm not like that anymore. But I don't give a damn what you think about me. Because I'm Helga G. Pataki, and I know I changed and I know there's more to me than meets the eye. It doesn't matter what you guys think. The only thing that matters is what I think."

I must've been loud because suddenly, more people arrived in the hallway I was in.

"You go Helga!" Patty called out for me.

"As long as you don't mess with Olga again, I can handle you." I said.

"I don't care about her anymore. You broke my arm, you asshole. I'm at this school for you now. I demand you to apologize." Summer said dramatically.

"Okay, I'm sorry...

Sorry that you're a little bitch!" I clapped back.

"OOOHH!" Some people in the hall called out.

"I'm leaving this hallway. Later everyone." I said as I walked away with Arnold. I wasn't sure what side people were on, but it didn't matter to me. I didn't care what any of those random people thought.

One week later...

Summer has been bothering me for the past week.. But I haven't been letting it get under my skin. She wasn't messing with my sister anymore, and I was thankful for that. I didn't let Summer get in between Arnold and me either. She may have tried get in between us before, but it didn't work because Arnold and I had built such a strong bond.

For the past week, each day has started out pretty much the same. Summer would come up to me and say something to try to get under my skin. But I didn't lash out at her like I would've before. It seemed like Summer was still trying to bother me, even though I was ignoring her for the most part. I guess she couldn't take any hints or was just pathetically persistent.

"Hey Helga, I-" She started to say.

"Has anyone seen a girl named Summer?" I heard, interrupting whatever Summer was going to say.

It was a police officer holding a flyer of what appeared to be a picture of Summer.

"She's a seventeen year old girl with blonde hair, and she is missing. We think she ran away from home, and we also think she may be here." The officer said.

"Oh crap!" Summer said.

She seemed to be saying that too loudly, so the officer made eye contact with her.

"Come with me!" Summer said to me.

"Why would I follow you?" I asked.

"I said come with me, damn it!" Summer said in agitation and then ran off.

I decided to follow her even though I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I followed her as she made a beeline to the janitor's closet, and closed the door once we were inside.

"What do you even want Summer, your ass is busted for running away, there's nothing you can do." I said.

"I'll go with them, but I need to tell you something." Summer said.

"I'm listening."

"After you broke my arm back home, everyone was saying I deserved it and they turned on me for bullying your sister. Even my parents turned on me. I was angry at you the whole time. I saw you in Anaheim in December, and my rage increased even more. And I didn't want to be there anymore, and I wanted to get revenge." Summer explained.

"And? Why are you telling me this? None of this wouldn't have happened if you had just left my sister alone."

"Let me finish. I actually started to feel guilty about the times that I bullied Olga. But instead of trying to improve myself, I let my resentment get the best of me and I got really mad at you."

"What were you even thinking? You literally left your damn state just to get revenge on me? That's too far, even for you. It's just batshit insane."

"I know... I regret it, and even though I don't wanna go back home, I guess I should. I've recently realized how pointless this is... and I need to get help for my issues..."

"Well uh, thanks for telling me this... I'll think about it."

"Summer. I know you're in here. We found you. You're coming with us." I heard from outside of the door.

"Well, I'm leaving. This doesn't mean I like you or anything, but I know I wasn't exactly the best for you. So goodbye." Summer said as she opened the door, leaving the closet.

"Goodbye, Autumn." I said.

As I exited the closet, I saw Arnold waiting by the door as Summer left the building with the police officer.

"What did Summer want?" Arnold asked.

"She was basically explaining why she came here... And she's going home and getting help." I said.

"How do you feel about this?" Arnold asked.

"I'm ready to put that part of my life away. I'm going to move on from it once and for all. I'm going to move on from my past once and for all. I'm going to focus on my present and future. Which is you, Arnold."

"I'm so proud of you, Helga. I love you." Arnold said, reaching his hand out to mine.

"I love you too." I said, grabbing his hand and interlocking my fingers with his.

"I know this is a few months away, but I want to ask now... do you want to go to junior prom with me?" Arnold asked.

"Of course." I said.

"I'm so excited." Arnold exclaimed.

Three months later...

"I can't believe you're going to prom, baby sis! This is so exciting!" Olga said while she was styling my hair and I looked in the mirror.

"Must you make a big deal out of everything I do?" I asked.

"I'll be doing that for the rest of your life, baby sis! Cause I love you."

"I love you too. Speaking of prom, you're going too, aren't you?"

"I sure am. I'm taking Mai. We've gotten pretty serious." Olga said, still styling my hair.

"I'm really happy for you, Olga. Also, how long is this gonna take? It's just my hair." I said.

"I'm almost done! You've always been so impatient. And... done!"

"It's about time. Also, it looks great."

"You look so gorgeous, baby sis! Arnold's gonna love you in that pink dress!"

I then heard our doorbell ring. I was about to go to junior prom with the boy that I love. I rushed over to the door to answer it. I opened the door, and Arnold was standing there, and I was in absolute awe of how amazing he looked.

"May I escort you to prom, my beautiful girlfriend?" Arnold said, holding his arm out to me

"You may." I said, locking my arm with his.

Arnold and I then walked to his car.

"So, since we're showing up to prom together, are we making our relationship public?" Arnold asked skittishly once he started driving.

"I'm totally okay with that. We've been keeping it a secret for too long." I said.

"I'm so excited to announce you as my girlfriend."

"I'm excited about it too."

About twenty minutes later, Arnold and I arrived at our prom. There were a bunch of cars in the parking lot already. Arnold and I got out of his car, and walked hand in hand to the ballroom. When we got inside, everyone saw us walking in with our arms linked.

"I have an announcement. Helga and I are a couple. She is my girlfriend." Arnold announced.

"Yeah, we already know." Rhonda's friend, Nadine said.

"See, I told you they were dating! You owe me five dollars." Some random girl said to her friend.

"They made a bet on our relationship?" I asked, confused.

"It was so obvious that you guys were dating. Did you really think you could hide it?" The girl said.

I looked over at Arnold and his face was red as a tomato, and I felt myself blushing too.

"They're blushing. They are an adorable couple." Rhonda said.

"Let's go to the dancefloor now, pink bow." Arnold said.

"Okay, blue cap." I answered confidently with a smile.

Arnold and I started dancing, and since we were out of the shadows, we didn't care if people saw. Everything was at peace in that moment, and I was so in love with him. I didn't have that much experience with dancing, but I got the hang of it while I was following my love's lead. My head was resting on his shoulder, and I looked around the room while it was. I saw Lila and the strawberry blonde girl, Jill, from the class trip. I'm glad she was comfortable bringing her girlfriend to prom out in the open after all that happened. I also saw my new friend Patty, and her crush Harold. Harold never got serious enough with girls to being them to prom, so I had hope for their relationship. And finally, I saw my sister and her girlfriend, Mai. I loved that my sister was having a happy night too.

I lifted my head from Arnold's shoulder and started looking at him and only him, still following his lead while our hands met. Suddenly, this one song that I recognized came on, and it was the song Mr. Brightside.

"I love this song." Arnold said.

"It sounds really good. I think I love it too." I said.

There was one lyric in the song that had my attention. That lyric being "It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?"

My relationship with him started with that kiss at Rhonda's party, and I felt amazing and relieved to hear that it meant something to him too, even if it was initially a dare.

I was wondering how I got so lucky to be in a relationship with him in that very moment, and holding him as we danced. I looked into his eyes, and he was my lucky treasure.

Arnold leaned over to me, our faces not very far apart at all. Arnold stopped dancing, and he kissed me. It felt like we were the only ones in the ballroom at this point, because he was all that mattered to me in that moment.

"I love you Arnold." I said after we broke our kiss.

"I love you too, Helga." Arnold said.

As the rest of the night went on, all I felt was pure bliss. It would be a night that I would remember for the rest of my life.

3 years later...

"Did you have fun today?" Arnold asked me as he walked me to my house.

"Of course I did." I responded.

I started to feel cold as I started shivering. I should've been used to this, as my mom always forgot to pick up my jacket from the cleaners.

"Are you cold, Helga?" Arnold asked.

"No..." I lied.

Arnold proceeded to take off his jacket and he handed it to me.

"I know you're lying. Take this." He said.

"Thanks." I said as I put on Arnold's jacket.

"Can you hold me?" I asked.

"Because you're cold or because you want me to touch you?" Arnold said, jokingly.

What he said made me blush, and that certainly wasn't the first time that something he said made me blush.

"Uh... both!" I said while I was still blushing. I swear to god, this boy has made me so soft. And I love him so much.

"I was just teasing you. Of course I want to hold the girl who I've fallen in love with." Arnold said.

What he said there made me smile and blush like an idiot. I felt like I was so lucky to have found him, and in that moment, all that mattered was him.

"I love you too." I said.

"I left something in the pocket of that jacket, actually. Can I get it?" Arnold asked.

"Sure."

Arnold then reached to the pocket of the jacket I was wearing, and unzipped it. He then pulled out a small red box.

Arnold then knelt down on one knee, and opened the box, revealing a gorgeous halo engagement ring.

"Helga Geraldine Pataki... will you do the honor... of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?

Um... I hope this ring is good enough."

"Football head, you could propose to me with a ring pop and I'd still say yes."

"So is this a yes to the marriage proposal?"

"Yes! I love you so much."

I went over and hugged Arnold tightly after he put the ring on my finger. I was in disbelief and bliss as he was really my fiance.

A car passed us, and that car was playing really loud music. Not just any loud music though. The radio in that car was playing Mr. Brightside.

"That song is such a comfort song for me. It brings me back to our junior prom night. The best night of my life." I said.

"Yeah, I feel the same. We were so in love in that moment. And we still are and always will be." Arnold said.

The end.


End file.
